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Long meetings lead trustees to rethink schedule
(by Joan Demirjian - July 28, 2010)
Long meetings lead trustees to rethink schedule
By JOAN DEMIRJIAN
Bainbridge Township Trustees are seeking ways to improve the efficiency of their meetings, which have stretched to four and five hours. Trustee Lorrie Benza said Monday that she wants to "streamline" the proceedings.
Trustees recently stopped holding weekly meetings and adopted a schedule of two meetings a month, plus special work sessions. Now, they may consider going back to meeting every Monday.
Trustee Matthew Lynch has opposed the revised schedule, saying the more frequent meetings are needed.
Trustees also are looking at whether they should be recording the minutes on tape. Mr. Lynch said he believes they should be tape recording meetings.
Trustee Jeff Markley said he wants the township fiscal officer to check with the prosecutor's office about such recordings.
Mrs. Benza suggested the possibility of re-establishing weekly meetings to avoid sessions that start at 7 p.m. and last until 11 p.m. They would have Saturday work sessions as well, she said.
"My goal was to streamline things, and we didn't do it, and now the every-other-week meetings are taking longer," she said. "We talk and never get there," Mrs. Benza said, noting that goals are not accomplished.
One of the items they should be working on is to proceed with the formation of a service department, trustees said.
Mr. Markley said consideration of a service department has been done, but they haven't finalized plans yet.
They also should proceed with employee evaluations that were supposed to have been done in June, Mrs. Benza said.
She is proposing a revision of the agenda and also favors eliminating tape recording of meetings because the recordings are a "crutch," she said. When they are used, it takes longer for the fiscal officer to produce minutes from the meetings, Mrs. Benza said.
Public comments related to agenda items should be kept to five minutes, she said. Any resident has the opportunity to get on the agenda for a longer discussion, Mrs. Benza said.
However, the time should be limited to 10 to 15 minutes and no more than two resident presentations should be at any one meeting.
In another proposed move, she said department heads do not need to read their reports at the meetings. The reports can be given to the trustees and anyone can look at them. "For department heads to read numbers doesn't do anything for you or us," she said about residents in attendance.
Requests from department heads outside the scope of the reports need to be presented to the board, she said. Presentations by department heads or invited guests could be kept to a maximum of 45 minutes, Mrs. Benza said.
"Old business" items should have carry-over dates to keep track of their progress and should be limited to 30 minutes, she said. Items keep getting carried over on the agenda, Mrs. Benza said.
On new business, all items should be in trustees' mailboxes by the Friday prior to the meeting, she said.
There would be an opportunity for public input on the nonagenda items for a 15-minute maximum and then adjournment, she said.
If the meetings are made more efficient, they can be kept to every other week, however if they continue as they have, "I would recommend going to weekly meetings," Mrs. Benza said.
Mr. Lynch said he had no problem with redoing the agendas. He would however, not want to eliminate the department head reports. "I do like seeing them (department heads) before us."
He is also reluctant to limit the time of public comments. The trustees' meetings are the only time when everyone comes together, and it is an opportunity for people to ask questions, he said.
Citizens can sometimes "get ticked off because they think people up there don't give a dam," he said of the trustees' podium. "We should listen to the concerns of citizens."
Mrs. Benza said her proposal is not to cut off input from residents, only to limit the time. "Public comment is important," she said.
"I'm definitely supportive of it," Mr. Markley said of the suggestions for improvement. Trustees will put it in final form at their Aug. 9 meeting and adopt it, he said. The idea is to not take five or six hours to go through township business. "I can appreciate that," he said.
Mr. Lynch said Tuesday, "The suggested new format is a great idea, and I was prepared to approve it last night.
He would like weekly meetings in order to get things, "given the amount of work we have," he said. "I'm prepared to make any changes to avoid five-hour township meetings."
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